>> kirsten davis? >> both of you are delusional. > let's make a deal. with garbage piling up around the nation's parks, will the president's meeting with congressional leaders clean upe this gover shutdown? meantime, u.s. border agents reportedly fired tear gas at migrants as they tried to cross the border from tijuana to san diego. a day after an explosion leveled an apartment building killing nine, rescuers abmiraculously find a by still alive in the rubble. it w a battle of the sexes as roger federer squared off witherena williams in a heated doubles match. and with $425 million on the line, it's going to be a very happy new year for one mega miions jackpot winner. we'll tell you wherehe ticket was sold. "early today" arts right now. good morning.

i'm marlie hall. >> great being with you. i'm fraes rivera. as the battle over the wall rages on in washington, d.c., tensions flare along the mexico border. u.s. agents fired tear gas at migrants io tijuana on tuesday. u.s. customs and border ncprotection say they ld the gas to stop dozens trying to cross into the u.s. authorities say some in the roup were violent and throwing rocks. the gas affected migrants and journalists but no reports of y serio injuries. back on capitol hill, congress will reconvene with still no real end in sight to the government shutdown. nbc's tracie potts joins us from d.c. with the latest. tracie, president trump has a messager for lawm tweeting, quote, let's make a deal. >> reporter:et make a deal he tells incoming house speaker nancy pelosi, but it's not clear if there's a deal to be had. this cs aplete showdown over the border wall, the $5 billion he wants, the $5 billion the democrats now coming in to take over the house tomorrow say that they will not give to president

trump. he's having some of the top eaders, democrats and republicans, to the white house eoday to talk about that border wall. hite house calls it a briefing. democrats, according to one aide, are skeptical that the president's ready to negotiate over this. and democrats do plan a vote tomorrow. they have two different plans. neither of them would fund the wall. bo them would reopen the government for these 800,000 workers who are either working without pay or not working at all. we're also hearing from mitt romney, who is criticizing the president and wondering whether or not this is something that they might be willing to work out. in a new op-ed, he raises that question. but agai as he slams president trump saying that his conduct over the past two years is evidence that he's not risen to the mantle of the office. romney soon to be one of those trying to make this decision on how to reopen the government. frances? >> tracie potts for us.

thanks. the government showdown is delivering another blow to the tourism industry on capitol hill today. ter remaining open between christmas and new year's despite the shutdown, the national zoo as well as the smithsonian are now closte indefily. art is onal gallery of also expected to close tomorrow. and with many park rangers on furlough, some o america' greatest natural wonders are y erflowing with trash. nbc's morgan ches more. >> reporter: at joshua tree nationpark, the desert views rand abbott fell in love withte now compe with a nasty reality. >> cigar wrappers, tin foil. i mean i could stay here for about three hours and clean this thing up. >> reporter: with park staff on furlough,rand, a disabled vet, volunteers up to six hours a day pulling rangerduty, trying to save a place that saved him. >> then i came out here a started climbing, and it opened my mind up to everything i can do in >> reporter: his best efforts no match for visitors now packing parks nationwide during the

government shutdown. in the capital, washington monument views now come with this. and intexas, trash keeps bear proof cans from even closing. >> we areth optimisti we'll get notice that we can come back to work soon, but until then, yeah. >> reporter: in utah, only zion national park will stay open as the state pulls back funding. now governors are promising ate money. new york's andrew cuomo tweeting he'll keep these parks open f the statue of liberty and ellis island. arizona's doug ducey adding the grand canyon will not close, pledging $64,000 a week to keep it open. at joshua tree, campgrounds are . officials blaming vandalism and health haz nds. but that stopping abbott. >> thanks for cleaning up. appreciate it. happy new year's. >> reporter: the national park service is stressing parkes a could change without any notice, leaving visitors on their own.n >> mor chesky, thanks for that report. cold war tensions heating ck up this morning between the united states and russia. that's after a marine corps

veteran w arrested last week in moscow on spying charges. paul whelan was moscow for a fellow marine's wedding, and he was last seen giving a tour of the kremlin. now the-o 48-ye's twin brother is speaking out, insisting he is innocent and demanding his safe return. >> paul is your tourist who happens to be in apparently the wrong pla at the wrong time. it's inconceivable that he took the actions that the russians have alleged. >> according to russia's state-run news agency, if found guilty, whelan could face up to 20 years in prison. now to the terrifying moments for a family at a zoo id fl a 2-year-old girl falling into a rhino enclosure there and airlifted to the hospital. nbc's catie beck has the stlate. >> reporter: a family new year's da trip to a florida zoo turned terrifying when a 2-year-old girl toppled into a rhinoceros exhibit. a witness posting this picture of a white shoe. >> she's t conscious ats time.r:

>> repor the zoo in melbourne says during the hands on educational experience with rhinos, children 3 years of age and older are led by zookeeper and able to touch the 4,000 pound animal separated by a series of steel poles. >> while the father was kneeling down, the child stumbled backwards, fell between the bars. the father and mother bmediately reacted andught the child out, but at least one if not two of the rhinos made contact witheir snout. >> reporter: the toddler airlifted to an area hospital. the mother also treated for a non-critical injury to her arm. the incident similar to a 2016 accident at the cincinnati zoo when a 3-year-old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure and was tossed about by one of the animals who was later killed. the rhino exhibremains closed pending investigation. the zoo saysy'ntil t thoroughly reviewed our processes and procedures to ensure this c hnotappen again. catie beck, n news. now to a miracle overseas.

more than a day after an explosion leveled an apartment building a killed at least nine people in russia, rescuers pulled a baby ave from the rubble. here's nbc's lucy kafanov with the details. >> reporter: the moment even amed rescuers. n 11-month-old baby boy pulled out of the rubble alive after surviving for more than 36 hours in freezing temperatures. a glimmer of hope for authoritie desperately searching forsurviv this video capturing the moment a deadly gas explosion rippedhe through ten-story russian apartment building monday. dozens of people still feared trapped. bu rescuer heard that baby's cries. i saw pts of the cribs, his first responder says. we cut the linoleum, and i saw a face. the baby, named ivan, had rostbite, a head injury, and fractures. but he was swaddled in alanket and warm bedding, which him survive frigid temperatures of minus 4 degrees. escapeher was able to when the building came down.

through,son and i fell she said, and he was left alone in his cot. ivan has been airlifted tosc for treatment. doctors say ivan is in serious conditio his father calling him a new year's miracle. >> just extraordinary. lucy, thanks. near boston, an elderly female driver was killed and her passenger left criticallyju d after her car slammed into an apartment complex and sparked a fire early tuesday. officials say the veh a laundry room on the first level and then ruptured a gas line, setting off the fire that spread to the entire complex. multiple firefighters were hospitalized trying to extinguish the blaze. an estimated 45 residents were displaced. police determined the now deceased driver was speeding before she plowed into the building. tyler trent, the former purdue university student who inspired college football fans across the nation has died from a rare bone cancer on tuesday. tyler moved fans with his courage, positivespirit, and his commitment to funding cancer

research. vehe raised $100,000 in his last months. trent was the recipient sf the disnrit award at the college football hall of fame. trent served as an honorary captain for purdue when they played the auburn tigers in the music bowl. the purdue cancer center tweeted twenty's legacy will live on in the future. albuquerque got wal winter weather and more is potentially on the way this morning. residents were left to zedeal wh low temperatures, wind, and snow accumulations. but it was fun and games in many places. you can see families making the most of the snow day off. road conditions were hazardous for some commuters. state police shut down several roads as a precaution. t'> check in with bill karins. good morning. >> the kids do love it.fo the second morning in a row, it's snowing in tucson, arizona. we're going to wat this storm. look at the pink on the map showing up in central texas. pink is neverd on a weather map. that means we're dealing with

sleet or freezing rain. for that reason, we have winter weather advisories in central texas, in all, including arizona and areas of new mexico, 14 million people under winter weather headlines. the snowfall totals, the highest over the next two days will be west of forth worth, wichita falls to abilene, texas. two to four inches. but it's thisting of ice, only about a tenth of an inch or so, but enough forhe sidewalks, bridges to be very slippery from oklahoma toa wichalls to abilene all the way down to san angelo. that's the travel trouble spot in the country. the rest othe nation the east coast looks pretty nice today. rain will head your way tomorrow. here's a closer look at your day ahead. you can see those temper'sures. that why we're having the problems in west texas. notice dallas had 37. yore not i the winter weather advisories. it's pretty much from fort worta westward you'll have those issues. still another cold day in the northern ains. with this same storm, a flood

threat with heavy rain. we'll talk about that coming up. in moscow, more than a dozen people were injured after a pedestrian bridge collapsed during new year's celebrations. video posted on social media shows the exact moment the wooden bridge collapsed, sending dozens of people tumbling some ten feet onto a skating rink belo victims were treated for what russian officials are calling moderate wounds. >> so scary to see that video. still ahead, one lucky person is kicking off the newea yearrly half a billion dollars richer. plus furtherhan evernto the final frontier. how nasa is making history in deep space. studies show that omega-3s are great for your health. but did you know that 98% of us don't get enough of them? that's why megared advanced 4in1 packs more omega-3 power into just one small softgel. it supports four vital areas of your body. your heart... your brain... your eyes...

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ticket comes from long island, new york. so check those numbers. they were 34, 44, 57, 62, 70, and mega ball 14. i'm from long island. that could have been me. >> are youure it's not you? >> i'm positive it's not me. >> she's here today. it wasn't her. it> all right. as a party at nasa last night after successful completion othe farthest flyby ever by nasa's spacecraft new horizons at 4 away.ion miles while this may be the start of a new space race set to kick into gh gear this year. nbc's tom costello explains. >> reporter: jubilatio at nasa as the new horizons spacecraft zipped past and took photos of u cu space object called ultima thule. a 2ooks something like mile long bowling pin. >> we have a healthy spacecraft. we've just accomplished the most distant flyby. >> reporter: one of the ue researchers, guitarist brian may, himself an astrophysicist.

2019 could be a marquee year for space exploration, a chinese rover is expected to land on the dark side of the moon.t a fir human discovery. paving the way for an eventual chineseanned mission. meanwhile, afteright years of flying aboard russian rockets, this could be the year american astronauts board anmerican spacex rocket for a trip to the space station. elon musk has plans f the moon and beyond. >> isn't she beautiful? she's just been to space, which is ridiculous.ha >> reporter: r branson says this is the year space tourists will ride his virgin galactic rocket to the edge of ace. >> well, i think 2019 could mark the renaissance of space activity. renaissance is the right word. rebirth becau 50 yearsgo we were flying to the moon. >> reporter: there's plenty of interest. theu.s., china, india, russia, even the uae have plans for loon a -- lunar or arsmissions.

tom costello, nbc news. washington >> i love when branson said it's ridiculous because it's hard to wrap your brain around that. >> i love there's a iconic rock group connection too. up neo, back i the upside down.an when strr things will finally return to netflix. and history on the court. the highlights as serena williams and roger federer face off for the first time ever. you're watching "early today."

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get your fireworks ready. netflix has announced the premiere day of the eaglerly awaited third season of its hit strangngs will be july 4th, 2019. the eight episode series will bn sethe summer of 1985 back in hawkins, indiana. that of people waiting for one, but six months to go. >> a little bit of a tease right there. it might be one of e most anticipated tennis matches of all me. serena williams and roger federer square off in a doubles match seen around the world. who won in the new battle of the sexes? m nbc'suel almaguer has the play. by play >> reporter: it was dubbed the first face-off between tennis great serenaam wil and roger

federer. >> it was a great experience. i'm kind of sad it's over, you know. i was just warming t'up. >> true. >> reporter: while technically a mixed doubles match, all eyes were on williams and federer, arguably the best ever to play the game. >> it was a bit nerve-racking to be honest because all of a y sudden,ou're serving, and i'm like i got to win this interest po, but it's serena williams. >> reporter: overpowering each other with crushing serves. these champions share a competitive edge, mutual admiration.d deep >> hopefully i can get some tips later on,n how to hit a little better, but it was really impressive. >> reporter: both 37 years old, federer has won 20 grand slam titles, williams 23. he has 99 career titles. she has 72. >> i don't think you give us cred b. >> reporteng compared to the famed 1973 battle of the sexes match between billie jean

king and bobby rigs, the world was watching roger and serena. while team switzerland won, serena took home her own trophy. >> you wanted to have a selfie. >> reporter: two champions and a picture of perfect sportsmanship. miguel almaguer, nbc >> wow, so cool. i know it's all about those two, but i kind of felt bad for the other two players there on the co kt. like nobodws who they are, i'm sure they're just happy to be there. justil ahead, bl is tracking anin icy wr blast and the top olams in cge football go bowling. but it's the mat coscots that s the show. ♪ before i get on the move ♪ i grab my special food ♪ today's the daisy i see ♪ the difference in me ♪ today's the daisy for cottage cheese (cottage cheese) ♪ ♪ today's the daisy for cottage cheese (cottage cheese) ♪

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two scoops meet real banana slices. i've done a good job of raisin ya. welcome back. we have a flash flood watch that includes the houston area right through central louisiana. this area has gotten drenched in the last couple otmonths. a of rivers are already into flood stage and we're going to get an t additional two four inches with the storm. here's the timing. already some ice this mornngg. duhe day today, all this yellow is areas of heavy rain from central to southeast texas to east texas in louisiana, southern half of arkansas. that's round one. that goes away this evening. then we get round twoel ding into tomorrow morning. so it's going to be two days of torrential rain in these areas. plenty of issues >> bill,hank you very much. still ahead, a positive movement. we'll introduce you to the queen bees shining on the national stage. my digestive system used e me feel sluggish. but those days are over. now, i take metamucil every day.

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squoo good morning, i'm eun yang. >> extra security at the local schos after online threats. plus, shot in the head while walking to lunch. a local man fighting for his life after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. lauren? and we are looking a some cloudy conditions out there today. a little cooler than yesterday. rain on the way. we'll talk about timing coming up.

s now.ews 4 today" sta good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> i'm chris lrence in for aaron. >> well, the holidays are over now and even though it's 2019, less than 48 hours, we have plenty of news to cover. >> yes, we do.

the government shutdown still area.ting our the national zoo and smithsonian have run out of ckup funds and they're closed. we'll look at the possibility of a deal to end the gridlock. >> melissa mollet is standing by but we begin with storm team 4 lauren ricketts. how's it going, lauren? >> not that bad. have some fairly mild conditions. yesterday we went into the mid 60s. early in the morning, too. now the temperatures stuck in the 40s. a little bit more seasonable for this time of yoyear. can see we have beautiful conditions out there right now. the temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s. 41 in gaithersburg. 30 out in the shenandoah valley. the next couple of hours we are looking for the tperatures to go down a bit. we are staying in the 40s for the daytime hnghs toput likely in the mid to upper 40s. not much going on